Millionaire by 30? These 3 Plays Could Get You There.

Most people, unless they're billionaires, would love to become millionaires. Becoming a millionaire is an extremely achievable goal if you start when you're young and stick to a good plan over many years.

But what if you want to become a millionaire by age 30, and you're already past 20?

Image source: Getty Images.

1. Play the lottery

A potentially quick way to become a millionaire is to play the lottery. It's not a good plan, though, because the odds are really against you. The odds of winning a Powerball grand prize, for example, were recently 1 in 292,201,338! The odds of winning smaller payouts are certainly better, but they're still stacked heavily against you. To win a $1 million Powerball payout, the odds are 1 in 11,688,054.

Consider, too, that per a Motley Fool research report on lotteries, more than $100 billion was spent on state lottery tickets in 2023, with only $69 billion being paid out to winners.

2. Start and sell a company

Another approach has better odds, but it requires a lot of work and a lot of luck: Building and then selling a business. An Israeli developer named Maor Shlomo, for example, sold his 6-month-old start-up to Wix.com this year for $80 million.

3. Invest in the right growth stocks

Simply investing in stocks is a third approach, which should require much less work and somewhat less luck. I say somewhat because over several decades -- not the time readers of this article have until age 30 -- amassing a million dollars can be achieved by many people:

Calculations by author.

But to amass a million dollars over, say, eight years, would require much bigger numbers. You'd have to invest around $7,500 per month (that's $90,000 per year) and earn a 10% annual return. It's true that the S&P 500 index has averaged annual gains of close to 10% over many decades, but that includes up years and down years, and there's no way to predict what it will do in the short term.

You could aim for a high growth rate by focusing on growth stocks such as Alphabet, Nvidia, Meta Platforms, and MercadoLibre, which have notched steep growth rates over recent years, but that may not continue over the next few years.

Maybe have more realistic expectations, instead

So go ahead and try to become a millionaire by 30, but if you fail, know that you may well get there by 40, which is still pretty good. And if you're steadily executing a good plan for many years, you'll be building a solid financial foundation for yourself.

Selena Maranjian has positions in Alphabet, MercadoLibre, Meta Platforms, and Nvidia. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Alphabet, MercadoLibre, Meta Platforms, Nvidia, and Wix.com. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.